|
These
ideas have been compiled to provide any Coming of Age coordinator with
an idea of what needs to be in place before a Coming of Age program is
run. This is not an exhaustive list and may be adjusted to take into account
your Congregation's size and needs. This is also not in any particular
order, although we have tried to approach it from a logical manner. Your
needs may dictate other preferences.
Needs Analysis
Before
spending any time planning your program, it's a good idea to ensure you
have support in more than one area of your congregation. This can be simply
done by informally asking for support or you may wish to present a proposal
to the Board or other interested parties. Needs analysis should be re-visited
as answers to the questions may change as you progress with the planning.
The following questions will help determine the scope of your needs
analysis:
- Are people
familiar with the concept of a Coming of Age program?
- Is there
a critical number of youth who are eligible and you feel will participate?
- Do parents
appear interested in a program like this for their children?
- Is there
a strong feeling of support from the board, RE committee, etc.?
Involving people in the decision making will
increase buy-in at the outset. This does not have to
be done by the coordinator - this could be a committee task.
Ensure RE Committee Support and liaison
A
Coming of Age liaison between you and the RE committee or even other committees
(the Board, worship etc.) will be helpful in securing extra help in the
form of knowledge and resources. It also ensures you will not be working
alone. We recommend making Coming of Age program planning a regular part
of the RE meeting agendas.
Clear Expectations
The
RE Committee and the coordinator should have clear goals and expectations
for the Coming of Age program. The following questions may help clarify
your role:
-
What is
required from the coordinator? This is not meant to be a comprehensive
job description (although this would be ideal), but a working agreement
between the committee and coordinator as to the look and feel of the
Coming of Age program.
- What are
the goals and how should they be communicated?
- Do you,
the coordinator agree with the goals? Have you any concerns?
-
How will the goals be communicated to everyone?
-
How much time should the coordinator spend on planning?
- Who should the coordinator report progress to?
Find
a Mentor for you - either someone in your congregation who has run
a Coming of Age program before, or someone external to your congregation
that you are comfortable with emailing or phoning regularly (and so are
they!). Having a second pair of eyes reviewing ideas and documents is
crucial.
Set up a planning structure:
Coordinator, Retreat Coordinators - One for each retreat offered, etc.
You may wish to go as far as having a leader for each of the sections
of your program. All form a sub-committee of the RE committee. Decide
on a meeting structure, how often, where, etc. Be sure to set up a sub-group
email list.
An example of
a leadership structure is as follows. One or more volunteers or church
professionals would be responsible for each area. Youth should participate
in leadership as much as possible. Where a minister is available, she
or he would often be responsible for the last three topics. Each area
of activity may be omitted or altered, of course depending on the length
and depth of you Coming of Age program.
- Overall Coming of Age co-ordinator
- Leadership training
- Retreats: organize accommodation, food, activities, supervision
- Coordinator of mentors: recruitment,
screening, assignment, supervision, recognition
- Coordinator of adult/youth social and group activities
- Relationships & sexuality (preferably
persons with formal Our Whole Lives training)
- Credo development (what I believe - see appendix)
- History of Unitarian Universalism and of our congregation
- Worship and opening and closing ceremonies
List
your topics and retreats and place them on a calendar. Set up a plan for each and communicate well to the individual coordinators for each section. Then let them run with their task. Try not to micro-manage but do check in regularly on progress.
Check
availability and book any retreat spots and building/classrooms needed.
Space fills up fast so do this in advance. Sometimes the only risk is
canceling and losing a deposit - better than not having the space at all.
This
should be done very early on in the process. Nothing is more frustrating
than scrambling for a new venue and having to re-communicate directions.
Have
a Coming of Age "elevator speech" ready. Having a one minute summary
of what a Coming of Age program is designed to provide your youth is crucial
when you first start advertising and talking about the program. Have a
few website addresses handy, either in print or verbally, to which you
can direct questions and interest.
Consider
a one-page flyer or newsletter blurb you can hand out to interested
parties with primary contact numbers.
Talk
informally to potential participants and their parents and families.
The more information you have about the participants the better you will
be at designing programs to fit personalities, interests etc.
Find
or Develop Forms. Registration forms, waivers, orientation presentations.
All should be at the ready even if they require some tweaking. This will
alleviate stress as the advertsing and recruitment part of the program
starts.
Again,
this was not meant to be an exhaustive list; we hope you can add to the
checklist after your experience. We'd enjoy hearing about your Coming
of Age programs.
Enjoy and Best of Luck
Unitarian Congregation of Saskatoon.
Summer 2008
|